Augusta, GA. The wait is now over.
The first of golf’s four major championships is now front and center.
This year’s Masters raises plenty of interesting questions awaiting to be answered. Yes, the primary focus is on the various combatants seeking the most prized possession — the illustrious green jacket.
However, the main starring role always reverts back to the course. Bob Jones and Alister MacKenzie sought to create an inland version of the course they both revered — the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Over a number of years, the original premise of Augusta National has gone through a series of alterations. The skill level of today’s modern tour players has required a number of modifications from what Jones and MacKenzie envisioned. Some have questioned those decisions — others have applauded them.
Yes, the main frame for the course is still present but the manner in which specific shotmaking is called upon has been reshaped.
No profession is better suited to assess the various progressions than those in the design field.
Five architects were invited to answer a series of questions on how they view the 2026 version of the famed layout.
***
When you hear the words Augusta National Golf Club what is the most immediate aspect that comes to mind?
Patrick Burton: The ability for the club to continuously provide the most captivating golf event of the year.
Brandon Johnson: History, exclusivity, architectural masterpiece, the ultimate springtime fascination.
Colton Craig: Something I think about often is how I owe my business to a ‘lucky bounce’ at the inaugural 2019 Women’s Amateur, where a friendly encounter at Amen Corner provided my business’s first commission.
Without that interaction, I am not sure what my life would look like today.
Chet Williams: Since I was a golfer 14 years before ever seriously thinking of becoming a golf course designer, I would say just the history attached to the course and the Masters tournament.
The fact that the Masters is golf’s only major championship to be hosted at the same golf course since 1934 has allowed a tremendous amount of drama, both positive and negative, to be built up. That Jack Nicklaus, my idol growing up and my employer for 25 years, has been a major contributor to this drama, makes it very special to me.
Dale Beddo: Prestige, tradition, impeccable.
Bob Jones and Alister MacKenzie wanted Augusta National to be in an inland version of The Old Course at St. Andrews. Does that philosophy still resonate with the version of the course we see today?
Chet Williams: In some ways yes, and in others no.
Position off the tee still matters greatly at both ANGC and the Old Course. Tee shots hit into the proper areas reward players with better approach angles. Both courses also require players to make decisions, usually involving a risk / reward situation.
Where ANGC feels less like the Old Course today is in the lack of firm links playing conditions, and in its highly manicured aesthetic which is the polar opposite of the Old Course.
Brandon Johnson: Yes, to some degree, especially when mother nature cooperates and provides dry, firm and fast conditions. Those fiery conditions bring out other dimensions within the architecture.
Dale Beddo: The original approach by Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Jones was to minimize the golf course by utilizing the existing contouring. In this aspect, it is in harmony with the old course at St. Andrews.
However, in my viewpoint Augusta National, while moving less than a 130,000 yd of dirt in the original construction, has evolved into a contrast of the Old Course due to its extensive vegetation, definitive bunker edging and the level of turf quality far exceeds that of the Old Course.
This combination is in direct conflict with the Old Course’s character and thus has evolved into a more Americanized golf course.
Colton Craig: MacKenzie was a romantic, but it isn’t today, nor was it ever, and that is a strength. We shouldn’t want Augusta National to reflect the Old Course any more than the Old Course should mirror Augusta.
What makes golf objectively the greatest game in the world is that the playing fields are not defined, thus the need to travel.
Patrick Burton: Not so much — the course we see today is attacked by the pros through the air. The ground contours and green complexes still reflect a tie to the Old Course, but we rarely see professional golfers play the course in that manner.
If you had a specific question to ask Jones and MacKenzie, what would you ask?
Brandon Johnson: For Jones I would ask – As a player, what architectural features made you think and posed the most challenge to your game?
For MacKenzie – The Old Course is a brilliant unique oddity that inspired the design behind Augusta National. If you knew Augusta might lose some of that “Old Course flair” and become a hyper manicured, less random interpretation of the Old Course would you have incorporated more quirk, whimsy, randomness and rustic aesthetics into the design?
Colton Craig: If you could develop your dream golf club over again, what would you do differently?
Patrick Burton: How do you feel about the changes to the course that have taken place since construction?
Chet Williams: Assuming Jones and MacKenzie looked at multiple sites for this golf course I would like to ask each of them if it was absolutely the best property for a golf course that they found? Or were there other factors in play that also contributed to this site’s selection — location, economics, accessibility, etc.?
Dale Beddo: The obvious question would be to ask if they feel Augusta National achieved the original goal. However, my curiosity has always led me to wonder if their anticipation in the greens, construction would ever take into consideration. The speed by which we now maintain green surfaces.
How do you think each would respond?
Dale Beddo: I would expect Mr. Jones to take a more hardened approach to this question. I would not be surprised if he embraced the growth in the technology of the game. But Mr. Jones is recognized for his character of honesty and purity of the game of Golf. Today’s world could possibly suggest that this type of involvement may have reduced the demand required of the golfer. Because the turf and the maintenance equipment available to us today in this industry is more supportive and probably more rewarding to the golfer than it was in his time.
As for Dr McKenzie. I don’t see a lot of commonalities in the features of this golf course, in comparison to his other works such as Pasatiempo Royal Melbourne, Cyprus Point or Meadow Club.
Chet Williams: There are a handful of holes at ANGC located on terrain that’s less than ideal. I would say MacKenzie would not have thought that this property was the perfect site. He (MacKenzie) may have thought, however, that its strong points were enough to outweigh its shortcomings. It may be controversial, but relative to the other properties where MacKenzie’s famous works are, the ANGC site may be the least attractive one.
I think Bob Jones would say the property best satisfied all of the broader requirements he was looking for. First of all, could a really good golf course be built on this property. I’m sure he relied primarily on MacKenzie to confirm this. Was this a location that potential members would find attractive to come to, and was it accessible to them?. Considering that it was the mid 1930s.
Brandon Johnson: For Jones – Well, probably the contours, bunkers and plethora of choices the Old Course confronts a player with.
For Mackenzie – Every club is susceptible to the wrong voices becoming too loud, influential and convincing those in charge to eliminate the provocative features and characteristics that made a design charming.
Patrick Burton: It’s hard to say. I believe they would pay respect to the club itself but not necessarily agree with some of the changes that have been made overtime.
Colton Craig: Jones might have said –maybe pick a site that requires less logging given the expensive and time-consuming process in removing all of the trees and stumps.
I envision MacKenzie saying — hard to imagine Bobby Jones picked the wrong site, but perhaps we could have had a site with better-draining soils.
Given the various designs you’ve done is there any design philosophy ones sees at Augusta incorporated into your finished efforts?
Dale Beddo: Augusta National is the creme de la creme. It is the Disneyland of golf courses. The ultimate in esthetic value. There is no project any architect takes on without sharing the same passion found at Augusta.
The same prestige found at Augusta is definitely an element that we all strive for. Augusta National rewards risk with reward, a common element most architects value and see throughout all of our works.
Colton Craig: The brilliance of Augusta National lies in its most primal element: the routing. It is axial in nature that hits ‘power points’ throughout the property.
At SCC Design, we dedicate extensive rigor into routing process before anything else is considered.
Patrick Burton: Occasionally. Most notably to sneak in some contouring and pin positions within green complexes inspired by AGNC.
Brandon Johnson: Yes, the use of contour/elevation change, greens, the idea that features/pin locations tempt players to take on shots they probably shouldn’t especially when they know of other more prudent options.
I particularly enjoy generous fairway widths within a strategic tree line. The situation and remarkable shot Rory pulled off in the final round of the 2025 Masters says it all.
Chet Williams: I like my golf courses to feel as if they grew from the ground, and not imposed upon it. This starts with the routing of the course, placing holes where you don’t have to manipulate the ground as much.
In cases where you do have to move more dirt, do it in a way that makes it feel natural. I believe the holes at ANGC follow this flowing with the natural land philosophy.
Part 2 coming tomorrow
***
The Participants
Brandon Johnson
Owner and Principal Architect
Brandon Johnson Golf Course Design
With over 25 years of experience designing golf courses around the world, 12 of those years dedicated to leading the Arnold Palmer Design Company, Brandon is a designer with a multi-dimensional background who brings a wealth of skills, creativity and a design agility that suits any project scenario.
Informed by his well-studied personal and professional journey that gives him a fresh perspective on the game and golf design. Brandon’s thoughtful and engaging design process is rooted in his core belief that golf courses are ultimately created in the field.
Dale Beddo
Beddo/Boyden Golf Design
Comprises nearly 75 years of design, construction, and renovation, including master planning and coordinated efforts with local governing entities.
Beddo/Boyden golf courses sustain both public/private LPGA and Epson Tour events with future planned projects that will include PGA Champions tour event.
Chet Williams
Chet Williams Design
In the golf course design business for 40 years, including 25 years working with Jack Nicklaus in his golf course design business.
In 2013 I started his own company — Chet Williams Design. Has had the good fortune to work in many places around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.
Patrick Burton
Owner, Burton Golf Design & Senior Designer for Fry/Straka Global Golf Design
A native of Columbus, Ohio and graduate of The Ohio State University with degrees in both Landscape Architecture & Turfgrass Science. Patrick spent the first half of his career serving as a Senior Designer at Forrest Richardson Golf Design, then on to Schmidt-Curley Design, working for the better part of 10 years on the Design and Construction of more than 30 projects throughout Asia.
In 2015, he established Burton Golf Design, along with becoming a Senior Designer for Fry/Straka Global Golf Design. To date, Parick remains active with the Design and Construction of Course throughout the world.
Colton Craig
Golf Course Architect
Smyers Craig & Coyne
Colton, an Oklahoma State graduated with honors in Landscape Architecture and received the largest undergraduate scholarship at Oklahoma State to study the economic impact of renovating a golf club.
His journey includes winning the prestigious World 100 Club Architectural Fellowship, which allowed him to study over fifty legendary links courses in Scotland. In 2019, at the age of 25, Colton started his own design firm. His firm merged with an industry leader, forming Smyers Craig and Coyne, and they design golf courses across the country and globe.
